[HN Gopher] FreeMDU: Open-source Miele appliance diagnostic tools
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FreeMDU: Open-source Miele appliance diagnostic tools
Author : Medusalix
Score : 216 points
Date : 2025-11-17 13:40 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| Aurornis wrote:
| This is a great project. The blog post explaining how they
| reverse engineered everything is a good read, too:
|
| https://medusalix.github.io/posts/miele-interface/
| jiehong wrote:
| Great reverse engineering documentation, with colors and nice
| diagrams !
| whitehexagon wrote:
| A really great read. Although, I now feel like I 'need' a logic
| analyzer, looks fun! And I'm looking forward to the firmware
| analysis mentioned at the end.
| NoiseBert69 wrote:
| Time for some overclocking... 10k RPM.
|
| Stellar Work!
| lifestyleguru wrote:
| Tune the washing machine chip for aggressive popcorn effect on
| deceleration, vroooom!
| exasperaited wrote:
| Ehh, you were going to knock out those terrible worktops
| anyway. It's really saved you a lot of labour.
| wiz21c wrote:
| what we miss is a universal control computer to control those
| washing machines. It is very often that part that breaks and that
| is "so expensive that you'd better replace the whole machine".
| wiz21c wrote:
| ah... https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-universal-washing-
| mac...
| Aurornis wrote:
| I've been having good luck buying pieces of part-outs on eBay
| for old appliances.
|
| Someone will take a machine apart and list all of the pieces
| individually. It's a fraction of the price of a new one. It's a
| used part so it's a gamble, but they can be so cheap I just buy
| two and have a spare.
| kjs3 wrote:
| If you live in a reasonably large metro area (at least in the
| US), there is an ecosystem of used appliance places that will
| often sell you parts from parted out machines. I've saved
| silly amounts of money this way. Dunno is that's 'better'
| than eBay, but you can at least inspect the part for obvious
| defect.
| cbm-vic-20 wrote:
| I fixed a malfunctioning refrigerator by replacing the control
| board, which happened to be a PIC16-based device used by many
| brands. This design is as close to "universal" as you can get,
| and this generic board was around 20% the price of the official
| replacement part.
|
| https://www.ebay.com/itm/152763501102
| Scubabear68 wrote:
| It is still worthwhile to try to troubleshoot something like a
| washing machine these days before calling someone to service
| it, or buying new.
|
| We just had a ~8 year old washer start dying with an error
| code, with digging it turned out it was the hall effect sensor
| on the drum motor that needed replacing. Cost $12 and change
| and was over nighted from Amazon.
|
| What would have been nice if we got a detailed diagnostic code
| and not just "FE" on the front panel.
| Towaway69 wrote:
| I replaced the heating element - twice - and the control board
| for the motor on my washing machine.
|
| Never needed to touch the controller board, so my experience is
| different.
| michaelmior wrote:
| With a little work, it's sometimes surprising how easy things
| are to repair. My TV died a few years ago and just refused to
| power on. I don't really know much about electronics, but I
| assumed since there were no lights of any kind that it was
| probably a bad power supply. I opened it up and it turns out
| the power supply is a separate board with an easily detachable
| cable. I ordered a new one for less than $40 on eBay by looking
| at the part number and it only took a few minutes to replace
| and saved me several hundred dollars.
|
| I'd imagine someone more familiar with electronics possibly
| could have figured out what specific component was wrong and
| replaced only that for an even smaller fraction of the cost.
| VTimofeenko wrote:
| Power supplies may fail in a cascading manner. Unless it's
| something like a fuse that was blown due to a known external
| event, one broken component can take out a couple of friends
| with it.
|
| If you can get a new board for 40$, that's probably the best
| course of action.
| semi-extrinsic wrote:
| As long as the small PCB is $40 it's fine. I had a central
| vacuum fail like that a couple of years ago, and the small
| PCB would have cost $350.
|
| The PCB had already been replaced twice during the warranty
| period. Googled the major components and they were $3 - $5 a
| piece, just a couple of half bridge rectifiers, resistors and
| diodes.
|
| Didn't want to risk a fire from a DIY job, which would have
| definitely voided my insurance, so I spent $400 on a new
| central vacuum unit (from a different brand).
| jahewson wrote:
| This would be a $1000 custom part in a Miele appliance
| though.
| mkoubaa wrote:
| I'd rather have the machine use compute running open source
| firmware from my tower in the next room
| amelius wrote:
| Wait, so with a strong enough IR led, someone could disrupt
| washing machines in their entire neighborhood?
| Aurornis wrote:
| If everyone had a Miele washing machine and put it on their
| front porch facing the street, maybe.
|
| Did you know that with a strong enough LED pointed through a
| window into the living room they could also disrupt TVs by
| changing the channel or even turning them off remotely!
| fainpul wrote:
| TV-B-Gone
|
| https://www.tvbgone.com/
| amelius wrote:
| Yes but I suppose it is more fun to shrink someone's socks
| than to turn off their TV.
| JoshTriplett wrote:
| With a strong enough LED pointed through a window, you could
| also disrupt TVs by melting them.
| IshKebab wrote:
| No, obviously not.
| kotaKat wrote:
| Fun fact: Speed Queen also uses IrDA as a communications method
| on many commercial washing machines for programming and
| diagnostics.
|
| They used to use a PalmPilot (and a WinMo) app. Nowadays it can
| be done with a PC with a weird NFC-based interface they've
| built with a wand you hold in front of the control panel in a
| specific location.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thnxm821yco
| alias_neo wrote:
| I'm both pleased and disappointed.
|
| I love reverse engineering efforts, and like to partake myself
| from time to time, so I'm very happy to see this; but, for a
| fraction of an infra-red-wave period I thought Miele had decided
| to be cool and open source some diagnostic tools for everyone to
| benefit.
|
| If I'm not mistaken, they were the first (and only?) to open
| source 3d models for vacuum cleaner accessories.
| schrijver wrote:
| I know HN loves Miele, but they are very Apple like when it
| comes to repair -- they don't make their parts available to the
| public and since a few years neither to independent repair
| shops.
|
| In contrast I had a great experience repairing a Smeg stove and
| buying all the necessary parts directly from them, so it's not
| like it's impossible.
| traceroute66 wrote:
| > they are very Apple like when it comes to repair -- they
| don't make their parts available to the public
|
| False on both counts.
|
| Both Apple and Miele offer Self Service Repair.
|
| Specifically in the case of Miele (since its the subject of
| this thread), you can buy spares directly from Miele. They
| openly show exploded parts diagrams on their website, and if
| you can't find it, you can call their parts sales number.
| nerdsniper wrote:
| Yeah but also for an upright vacuum I bought they stopped
| selling parts less than one year after I bought it. They
| couldn't even tell me the basic dimensions of the vacuum
| belt I needed. For a vacuum that was less than a year old.
|
| The instant they stop selling a model, all the
| documentation is thoroughly whisked away and inaccessible
| to customers or anyone a customer can reach.
|
| And they never gave me that kind of documentation so it's
| not even something I "should have" saved myself.
| dns_snek wrote:
| > Specifically in the case of Miele (since its the subject
| of this thread), you can buy spares directly from Miele.
|
| With the caveat that the prices are ridiculously high to
| encourage you to just buy a new one. My brand new Miele C3
| vacuum cost 300 EUR and I just checked the official spare
| parts store you mentioned. Replacement handle is 90 EUR
| (not including the telescopic pipe, that's another 80 EUR,
| or hose, that's another 40 EUR), cable reel is 100 EUR, new
| motor is also 100 EUR, top plastic cover (which can't cost
| more than 5 EUR manufactured and delivered) costs 50 EUR,
| and so on.
| schrijver wrote:
| My bad, a few years ago this was reported in the press (in
| the Netherlands). Maybe the regulatory framework caught up
| with them in the mean time.
| any1 wrote:
| This reminds me of my own troubles with my AEG washing machine.
|
| Probably, the most important lesson (for someone who wants to fix
| their washing machine ASAP) that I learned from that was that
| there are non-userserviceable error codes and you need to perform
| an undocumented procedure on your machine to get those codes. I
| wrote about it in more detail here:
| https://andri.yngvason.is/repairing-the-washing-machine.html
|
| I would have loved to have an open source diagnostics dongle for
| my AEG. Maybe next time I'll try and make one. :)
| mavamaarten wrote:
| After having used their repair service for over 10 times for my
| dishwasher during its warranty period and having broken off its
| front handle (well, the entire front panel really) after 2 more
| years, I'm never buying an AEG device ever again. I opened it
| up and fixed it myself, and oh my god, the whole thing just
| _screamed_ cost cutting. They literally used the power button
| of a different model or machine, and then just mounted a
| different power button on top that presses the underlying one.
| And of course the load bearing thing that holds the front panel
| and display onto the door frame is a just two tiny bolts in the
| corners. Great idea to have the entire thing flex constantly in
| one place. Absolute junk.
| LordHeini wrote:
| Or as my mom used to say: AEG auspacken, einschalten, geht
| nicht.
|
| Which translates to: unpack, switch on, doesnt work.
|
| She owned a couple of AEG devices and all broke immediately
| except the oven. AEG ovens and stove tops seem to be mostly
| OK for whatever reason.
| Glawen wrote:
| It's crazy how long those reputation can last. AEG made
| good product 30-40 years ago, like everyone else as is was
| standard to build quality gear.
| inferiorhuman wrote:
| How new is your washing machine? Mine (US market, Electrolux
| branded) displays fault codes through the main 8 segment LCD
| and makes component tests available from that same diagnostic
| menu. Service literature was available directly from Electrolux
| -- from a paid service with a free trial, although there are
| plenty of youtube videos covering the same information.
|
| It's either the current or previous generation.
| WesolyKubeczek wrote:
| Ah, Miele.
|
| When after some time the water pump on my 2014 Miele dishwasher
| gave up the ghost, I had a look at their parts catalogue. I had
| mixed feelings.
|
| On one hand, they still produce parts for things they sold in
| 2008, maybe even earlier, I was looking for a pump. Very repair-
| friendly, very anti-ewaste. Kudos.
|
| On the other hand, for the price they have of that pump and
| labor, I could buy a perfectly serviceable new midrange Bosch
| thing. Which I, after a short inner struggle, did. After all, the
| pump may have been the tip of an iceberg of more costly repairs.
| It's a real Apple or Porsche of home appliances -- it costs a lot
| when you buy it, and then it keeps costing you later.
|
| But maybe this knowledge is going to be handy with the Miele
| fridge I still have...
| Glawen wrote:
| Some people love the fact that they have old appliances still
| running fine. I have my grandma Siemens fridge, 30 years old,
| still running fine. On one hand, a more efficient fridge would
| cost less money on the long run, but on the other hand i'm
| afraid to buy a lemon. So I'm patiently waiting for my Siemens
| to die
| WesolyKubeczek wrote:
| This is the thing, the day they stop working you wonder if
| you should repair them for X money or byy a new one for X /
| 1.5 money. Guess which wins in both time and money.
| georgefrowny wrote:
| > repair them for X money
|
| Plus (X / 1.5) * (1 - S), where S is probability of
| successful repair.
|
| Plus the repair cost of the next thing to go if many parts
| are reaching the end of the design life (= warranty * 1.1)
| JoshTriplett wrote:
| Plus the cost of your time either repairing it yourself
| or finding someone to repair it.
| WesolyKubeczek wrote:
| > On one hand, a more efficient fridge would cost less money
| on the long run, but on the other hand i'm afraid to buy a
| lemon. So I'm patiently waiting for my Siemens to die
|
| There's a piece of wisdom about cars and appliances that
| unless there's some egregious defect that turns it into
| infinite money sink, the least costly (and in fact the most
| environmentally friendly) option is to run the one you
| currently have until it disintegrates. Because the price of a
| new one is usually like your electrical bill for the current
| one over multiple years, adjusted for inflation and price
| hikes.
|
| There are of course exceptions, but rules of thumb are never
| 100%.
| Freak_NL wrote:
| Could you actually buy those parts? Miele started locking down
| their parts to just registered Miele repair centres a few years
| ago, making a mockery of the right-to-repair movement (and
| slipping a big middle finger to business which repair a variety
| of brands, not exclusively Miele).
| fignews wrote:
| All Miele refrigerators (at least currently) are made by
| Liebherr.
| dang wrote:
| Related (but no comments yet):
|
| _Reverse Engineering the Miele Diagnostic Interface_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45953572
| NaOH wrote:
| Also:
|
| _Reverse Engineering the Miele Diagnostic Interface_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44593975 - July 2025 (4
| comments)
| supportengineer wrote:
| I need a new dishwasher. I am considering a German-made Miele.
|
| I've read so many horror stories. I don't think I could consider
| any other brand.
| tadfisher wrote:
| Miele, Bosch, and Speed Queen do the old-school engineering
| based on failure analysis and have basically the same
| reliability as the super-simple machines from the 70s and 80s,
| so 20 years is a common lifespan with outliers in the 30- and
| 40-year range. If you adjust for inflation, you find that the
| super-simple machines from the 70s and 80s cost basically the
| same as machines from these more expensive brands, so if you
| care about filling landfills with broken appliances, you should
| probably consider purchasing them and supporting the business
| model.
|
| No one would make cost-engineered stuff that fails just outside
| the warranty if people didn't buy it.
| supportengineer wrote:
| Speed Queen is the _ONLY_ washer dryer brand I would
| consider. I currently have a Kenmore set from 2001. Works
| great.
| smiley1437 wrote:
| Alliance Laundry which makes Speed Queen recently IPOed:
|
| https://ir.alliancelaundry.com/news-events/press-
| releases/de...
|
| Once a company goes public they tend to focus more on
| earnings per quarter, causing decision making to be more
| short-term.
|
| Not great when, as a consumer, you hope to get a product
| that will last 20+ years.
| robotnikman wrote:
| Oh no... better buy one now if you have the chance.
| inferiorhuman wrote:
| Pass. I replaced an early 00s Whirlpool/Maytag/Kenmore top
| loader a few years ago and had SQ front loaders at a
| previous place. The top loader needed a tub that was
| difficult to find and expensive ($400+).
|
| The SQs were very noisy, not super reliable, and didn't
| seem to clean that well. The SQs that built their
| reputation were the old top loaders with minimal
| electronics. Plenty of really obnoxious problems with the
| current TR series, dunno if the current TCs are as good as
| the old ones... and I still couldn't imagine living with
| one of those in my home.
|
| The Electrolux front loader that I've got now has all the
| benefits of a front loader and does a good job cleaning. If
| I hadn't been burned by LG I'd probably consider one of
| their front loaders that everyone seems to fawn over.
| gog wrote:
| Bosch has been making washing machines where replacing the
| drum bearings is not supported (the bearings are sealed in a
| plastic housing) for a while now, not sure if this is the
| case in all of the models or the cheaper ones only.
| pimeys wrote:
| We had a Samsung dishwasher. Took exactly 5 years for it to
| spill water to the floor.
|
| Now we have a Miele, as we do have their laundry machine and
| fridge already. The laundry machine is soon 20 years old, been
| doing laundry around 5-6 times every week and works still like
| new. The fridge is supposedly built by Liebherr. It feels
| really high quality: the door handle feels nice and locks the
| door properly. There are multiple different temperature areas
| that hold the temperature quite steady.
|
| The dishwashers have certain tiers. I don't know if it makes
| sense to pay for the TwinDos detergent system: you can wash
| dishes without filling detergent. The detergent is proprietary
| and quite expensive. Sadly if you want to connect the
| dishwasher to your home assistant, that feature is only in the
| most expensive models. The door that opens automatically when
| the program is done is great though. You can do the eco program
| which is quite slow, but it spends the last hours just the door
| open, and in the morning you have clean and dry dishes with
| minimal water and energy use.
| tguvot wrote:
| You can refill detergent cartridge if you want. There are sds
| datasheets so it's possible to select something similar
| inferiorhuman wrote:
| Samsung is bottom tier across the board for white goods. If
| it uses fire, electricity, and/or water you're best looking
| elsewhere. There's plenty of room to buy something decent
| without having to pay the full price of Miele. I love my
| "old" Miele stick vac tho.
| tguvot wrote:
| bought a few years pretty much top of the line miele. works
| great. ability to insert cartridge and just to forget about
| having to add detergent for a few weeks is amazing
| rShergold wrote:
| We've had our Miele dishwasher for 5 years. Running on average
| 1.5 times a day. It's flawless.
|
| Here in the UK the customer service has been amazing. The
| company we bought from (AO.com) installed it incorrectly (the
| water pipe plug wasn't removed) they told us to get stuffed. We
| called Miele. They sent someone to us the next day and fixed it
| free of charge
| skhameneh wrote:
| Miele... Expensive, works great (when it does), but absolute shit
| customer service in the US.
|
| One of my largest local retailers cut back on Miele in general,
| they had a high return rate. Miele makes a number of great
| products, but their customer service is so so so so so bad. Stuff
| like this is great to see.
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